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Walter Benjamin
Walter Benjamin is a character. She is Philomena Develsbourne's grouchy and misanthropic third cousin. Life Early life Walter Benjamin was born in 1942 to Bendjamin, a landlord, and Asmawati Asmiani, a housewife, in Batavia, the Dutch East Indies. He was the third of six siblings; he has an older sister named Wanda Benjamin, a younger brother named Ernest Benjamin, a younger sister named Nancy Benjamin, and a younger brother named Emmett Benjamin. His oldest sibling, Noer Salam Benjamin died as a toddler in 1939, after living a sickly life with only one eye. They were given Western names because a ‘’dukun’’ once told his parents that his brother died because he was given an Eastern name. Thus, Walter and his siblings were named by their maternal grandfather, Soesoeloeh Mangkoedimedjo. However, instead of being called Wanda, Walter, Ernest, Nancy, and Emmett, they were called Anda, Wolly, Kencur, Neneng, and Memet (respectively). They lived in South Jakarta with Bendjamin's parents, Sadelih, a landlord and a former wedana, and Sarinah, a fried goods seller famed for her secret recipe. Their home was built next to a disused Dutch warehouse formerly used to torture traitors; Sadelih cultivated gardens and farms while Bendjamin served in the war. Both Bendjamin and Sadelih enjoyed hunting and were excellent horse-riders. Walter's maternal grandfather, Soesoeloeh Mangkoenonadimedjo, was the owner of the Nonadimedjo Tea company along with his brother Dharma Mangkoenonadimedjo, while their mother, Candrawati Daliani, was a talented pianist and housewife. Asmawati had three siblings: Atresia Ambarwati, Adine Astamurti, and Astanu Adibrata, all of whom lived in Kebon Sirih. When Soesoeloeh disappeared in 1941, the business was handed over to his brother and so his family was then placed under Dharma’s financial custody. Upon the deaths of her uncle in 1952 and mother in 1956, Asma inherited a significant amount of fortune along with her siblings, so Walter's early life was quite good (financially speaking) considering the circumstances around the independence of Indonesia 1945. His family was well-respected by the locals. Walter was the eldest male sibling and was thus given a large amount of responsibility. While his sisters were their mother's business, him and his brothers were their father's. He would often cover for Emmett and Ernest's wrongdoings and he was often abused by their father, being beaten with belts and wooden sticks. Though the physical abuse stopped when he was older, his parents were always putting him down verbally. He would always go to his grandmother Sarinah for protection, who helped Amin to curb his physical abuse. Young adulthood and education Each of the children received a house from their parents. The main house was in the middle, while Walter’s house was up front, and Memet and Kencur’s house was at the back. Neneng and Wanda lived in the main house until they were married. Walter was the first of his family to go to college. Initially, he wanted to become a journalist and wanted to study in PTP, but the pressures at the time led him to major in Social and Politic Sciences in UNAS in 1961. By recommendation of family friends, he found a job in Badan Pertahanan Nasional (National Land Agency) as a clerk in 1965, a year after his grandfather Sadelih died when he led a morning prayer. In 1966, Bendjamin took a second wife named Lela, who was 26 years younger than him. This was also the year when Kencur ran off to marry a Protestant Chinese-Indonesian woman by the name of Endah despite protests from the family. His house was then contracted to renters. In 1967, he met Maryam Benjamin (then named Maryam Dhanurendra), a nurse who ordered a large amount of fried goods from Sarinah. They corresponded with each other through letters and eventually got engaged and married in 1969. Despite coming from a Catholic background, Maryam's parents allowed her to convert to Islam so she could marry Walter. Maryam became a devout Muslim, even though she would admit to being more spiritual than religious in her daily life. Adulthood In 1970, they had a daughter named Naresratri Benjamin. This period then marked the time with the most relatives living on the land, with the coming of Asma's second cousin once removed, Wurina Rahyono, in 1976, along with her husband Wicaksono Rahyono and their conceived-out-of-wedlock daughter, Deborah Tabitha. Sarinah died in her sleep a year later in 1977, with the last batch of fried goods served on the table. Wurina and her family were kicked out in 1988. Nares went on to study Economics at Trisakti University, graduating in 1992 and started working at a bank at in 1993. In 1995, she became engaged to Effendi Tanjung, a junior of hers who comes from an affluent Minang family. The marriage was delayed for a while because of Walter's disapproval of Effendi (whom he would mockingly call Pendi), but eventually took place in 1996. The marriage proved to be very hard because Walter did not get along well with his in-laws, which caused a rift in the family. Later life In 1997, Naresratri and Effendi had two children named Magistra Sadewi and Magistro Nakulo, and Walter disapproved of their names. Despite similar opinions, their paternal grandparents, Chatib Algamar and Rasuna Tanjung, played a big part in raising them. He retired from his job in 1998, at the age of 56. In his old age, Walter had become a grouchy, misanthropic curmudgeon who, on one hand, is annoyed at most people, but on the other hand, is excruciatingly lonely after the death of his wife in 2016 due to pneumonia. With the exception of his dogs and ducks, he lives by himself in his spacious land—-one of the last vestiges of Betawi legacy in his neighbourhood, situated between a small urban village and modern residences and commercial buildings. If he were to sell his land and his house, the land would be destroyed to be turned into an apartment and the development will keep on moving inwards towards the village. Real estate companies and land developers have made him offers, but he refuses to sell. The villagers are thankful for him, but he doesn’t exactly like them either. In 2017, Eem, his intellectually disabled niece from his elder brother Ernest Benjamin, came to live with him since the death of her mother, Endah, having no other relatives to take her in. Being older and alone, Walter decides to hire someone to take care of Eem and someone else to handle the grounds, since he has become rather frail in his old age. From his doctor friend, he is introduced to Juju Jubaedah and Nana Supratna, a mother and son from Purwakarta seeking to escape Juju's abusive husband. With three people now living around him when he is used to solitude, added with the issue between the villagers and the developers, Walter has to deal with his misanthropy and learn how to deal with people. Personality When Walter was young, he was a sensitive and idealistic person. He loved to read and couldn't catch up with the more hefty physical labor bestowed upon his brothers (whom he would protect whenever they were up to no good). Because of the physical abuse his father gave him, he was very closed up and bitter about his feelings. Though for the most visible part he digressed it as old school parenting, a large part of him was angry and hurt but unable to be expressed. His mother's lack of support and verbal abuse did not help him as well, which is why he only saw his grandparents as his 'true' parents (even though he still respected his parents). When he was a teenager, he wanted to be involved with making the country a better place by involving himself with journalism, but his father disagreed as he saw that would not bring him steady income, asking him to find a real job instead. He was then rather used to the routines of his job as clerk in the BPN, until he retired in 1998, in which he had more time to care for his land. It was in these years that Walter found an opportunity to be free, to be truly himself--but of course, the troubles with his family (both past and present) had hindered him from coming back into his idealistic youth. Walter has a phobia for ondel-ondel, since the ones that he saw in his childhood still had fearsome faces. Though they no longer do, Walter still holds this fear. Category:Characters Category:Male Characters